1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device/medium and layout method with an automatic layout system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As product life cycles have become shorter due to product diversity and as customized services for consumers have become increasingly important due to a proliferation of Internet use, the need for CRM and One-to-One marketing has been noted in recent years. Such methods increase customer satisfaction as well as cultivate and retain customers. Note that CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management.
One-to-One marketing is a type of database marketing, wherein personal attribute information such as age, gender, hobbies, preferences, purchasing history and so forth are kept in a database, and the content thereof is analyzed and proposals are provided according to the needs of the customer. Variable printing is a representative method thereof. Recently with advances in DTP (desktop publishing) technology and the increase in digital printing devices, variable printing systems which customize and output text for each customer have been developed. Of these, optimal layout of content with different sizes for each customer has become desirable.
Heretofore, a variable printing system has created a template with a container or the like on a document, and generating output material by associating the template with a database. Note that a container indicates a region wherein content data of the database is inserted. However, since the container size of the text and images has been fixed, when content data in the database is inserted into the container, in the case that the amount of data is greater than the container size, text may overlap and the images may be cut off. Also, conversely in the case that the data size is smaller than the container size, the container can result in a large amount of space therein, both situations resulting in output material that is not attractive for a user to view.
In order to solve such problems, an automatic layout system is disclosed. The automatic layout system is a technique to determine the container size according to the container size of the text or image. However, in the case that the container size is increased, there is a problem wherein the container can overlay another container in the same document. Also, in the case of adjusting the font size, in the case that the amount of text is great, there is a problem wherein the font size can become too small.
As an automatic layout technique to solve these problems, a technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-48216, wherein, in the event that the size of a certain container becomes great, the size of another container associated with the container becomes smaller.
Also, with a variable printing system heretofore, there is not only a technique to layout one record in one document, but also a technique to layout multiple records in one document. With this technique, a different number of records for each customer can be disposed on the template, thereby creating a customized document as to each customer.
In contrast with an “automatic layout technique” as described, a technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-74226 wherein a new region called a flow area is disposed on a template, and a sub-template having a form defined to serve as a basis is disposed within the flow area. Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-74226 describes that the sub-template size disposed in the flow area can be changed according to the content data.
Also, a technique to dispose multiple types of sub-templates in a flow area is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-243805. However, as with the above-described Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-74226, if not only the container size but also the sub-template size is changed depending on the content data, sub-templates of various sizes can be disposed within the flow area.
Also, as with Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-243805, by disposing multiple types of sub-templates in the flow area also, sub-templates of various sizes can be disposed in the flow area. That is to say, when various sizes of sub-templates are lined up in order and disposed in the flow area as described above, the heights thereof are uneven, whereby blank areas can occur.
FIG. 19 will be employed to describe the above-described problems in detail. Reference numerals 1801 through 1807 described in FIG. 19 indicate a sub-template wherein content data is inserted. For example, in the case that the sub-templates to be disposed within the flow area differ as with 1801 through 1807, the sub-template disposed in the second row is disposed lower than the sub-template 1802 which has a maximum size in the vertical direction of the first row. On the other hand, if the sub-templates are disposed simply to fill in the blank areas, the starting position of the sub-template disposed on the second row becomes uneven, resulting in becoming unattractive to view.
Therefore, with the automatic layout technique heretofore, spacing as with 1808, 1809, and 1810 in FIG. 18 can occur, whereby the desire of the user to produce an output material having little space cannot be realized.